Landscape Paintings Curator Charles Chu, Professor Emeritus, Connecticut College,

Looking at the Landscape Paintings from the Chu-Griffis Collection at Connecticut College, you find differences in painting techniques. A typically traditional landscape painting observes certain rules: 1) accurate lines, 2) powerful brush movements, 3) contrast gradations of ink, 4) interplay between dark and light, and 5) painted and unpainted space. This time-tested tradition has prevailed over the thousand year history of Chinese Landscape Painting. These are all considered necessary in order to bring out the harmony and vitality of nature. Questioning this traditional way of painting began in the early years of this century. The strongest explosion against traditional painting started with a young generation of artists shortly after the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when the word "creativity" was in the air. Diversity in painting styles emerged. In the early 80's, even though traditional landscape painting continued to be practiced, an opposing force against tradition flourished. In the meantime, a third trend has become more common than before. It is the blending of Western techniques with deeply rooted older brush techniques.

CHU-GRIFFIS ASIAN ART COLLECTION 01. Chang Dai-chien (1899-1983) Hanging Scroll, Ink and Color on Rice Paper, 36 x 17 in., (91.5 x 43 cm.) To write about Chang Dai-chein makes me feel nostalgic. I have deep respect for him. We met in the fifties and sixties whenever he came to New Haven. When they walked into the house and saw our children's doodlings on the dining room wall, Mr. Chang said loudly, "Picasso could not do better." Mr. Chang was outgoing, spirited, energetic, generous, and a man of wit and fine humor. He was everybody's friend. Fu Shen, former Associate Director at the Sackler Art Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, called Chang a "lion among painters". Chang Dai-chien is already a legendary figure in Chinese art history. Like the name Chi Pai-shih (1863-1957), the name Chang Dai-chien has spread far and wide. Books about this white-bearded scholarly artist are abundant. Stories about him are plentiful and many of them are hilarious. He was indeed the center of attention wherever he went; a delightful and eloquent conversationalist. Dai-chien began as an artist in his early years. Born in a rich and educated family, he was taught to paint by his mother. After he went to high school and later to Kyoto to study for four years, be began his formal painting instruction under two Shanghai artists. Dai-chien's favorite artist, Shih Tao (1641-c.1717), was a great influence to him. Dai-chien copied Shih Tao's work and at a young age he became a connoisseur and began to collect ancient Chinese paintings. By the time the war started in 1937, he already had twenty-four boxes of treasured pieces, some of which later became his major source of income for a comfortable lifestyle abroad, in Brazil and Carmel, CA. His first major show in Peking in 1934 was a great success. From 1941 until 1943, he painted wall murals at the Temple of 1,000 Buddhas in Tun Huang in northwestern China. His focus became bigger and wider as time went on. He was invited to show everywhere in the world. In July 1956, he was in Paris attending his own exhibition. While there, he and his wife met Picasso at his home in Cannes. Picasso showed over 20 of his paintings in the style of Chi Pai-shih and asked Chang for comment. Mr. Chang was polite but direct. He told Picasso that the tools he used were not right. Later Chang sent some Chinese brushes to Picasso. While they were chatting, Picasso told Chang Dai-chien, "What puzzles me most is why you Chinese come to Paris to learn about painting." This landscape painting in the Chu-Griffis Art Collection at the college was painted after supper at Fred Wang's house in New Haven. We were there with them. This landscape is inscribed to me, and it was in our family for years until we gave it to help start the collection. I knew then the Chu-Griffis Collection could never afford the prices his paintings would sell for in the world market. This painting is not a serious one, but the spontaneity and personal friendship make it singularly an example of the literati pattern of painting for fun and sharing. For this it is priceless. My salutations to a man with the true heart of an artist. This painting was donated by Charles and Bettie Chu.

CHU-GRIFFIS ASIAN ART COLLECTION 02. Chang Ting (1917-) Hanging Scroll, Ink and Color on Rice Paper, 18 x 13.5 in., (45.75 x 34.5 cm.)   During the past seventy-two years, Chang Ting's life has turned and twisted with the history of China. In 1913, when the Japanese army occupied his birthplace, Chang escaped to Peking, where he studied painting and cartoon drawing. In 1937, he taught at the Lu Hsun Institute of Literature and Art in Yenan, stronghold of Mao Tse Tung. In 1954, the Communist government sent him to Italy and France, where he met Picasso. After his European trip, Chang's paintings became more colorful, often including elements of Chinese folk art. For several years during the cultural revolution (1966-1976), he was restricted to the countryside without any painting supplies. But three years after he was "rehabilitated" he was made president of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, and led a group of faculty and students to paint the famous "Necha Defeats the Dragon King" mural at Peking airport. Our piece was done in the early seventies when Chang Ting's painting reflected the sadness of his life. Chang began to use scorched ink and a dry brush to render the texture of rocks and to reflect his austere life. Now Chang Ting lives comfortably in Beijing, enjoying his retirement and his reputation as a leader in art and art education. This painting was purchased with funds provided by Richard and Esther Goodwin in October, 1988.

CHU-GRIFFIS ASIAN ART COLLECTION 03. Chen Chin-chang (1929 -) Hanging Scroll, Ink and Color on Rice Paper, 34 x 21 in., (86 x 53 cm.)   Professor Chen Chin-chang of Canton Academy of Fine Arts has devoted himself to landscape painting. He graduated from and taught at art academies until his retirement. Through his colleague, Professor Yang Zhi-guang, one of the first Artists-in-Residence at the Griffis Art Center, we acquired this painting in 1992. Looking at this vertical landscape painting, one sees rocky hills and mountains on both sides of a rapid river with two barges floating down the stream. To analyze the details of the painting, the differences between an old traditional landscape painting such as the two large scrolls in the room are obvious. Some of the modern day landscape paintings, like this one, use no contour lines, no textural wrinklings as shown in the other two. Instead, a big ink brush is used to portray rocks; different shaped dots, almost like Western pointillism, mark the surface of the cliffs and high mountains. Technically, this way of painting is less time-consuming than the old way, although it is a technique sometimes used in early paintings. This is not an elaborately executed painting. The older traditional brush line drawing is missing. However, under the brush of Professor Chen the beauty of a corner of the landscape does have a lyrical quality in this monochrome painting. This painting was purchased with funds provided by Susan and David Zimmerman, class of '75.

CHU-GRIFFIS ASIAN ART COLLECTION 04. Cheng Shan-hsi (1932-) Hanging Scroll, Ink and Color on Rice Paper, 19.5 x 17.5 in., (50 x 44.5 cm.)   Reading about Professor Cheng Shan-hsi's life career as an artist, I am impressed by his artistic talent and creative versatility in styles. From high school to university education, from student status to professorship, and into retirement, Mr. Cheng has devoted himself entirely to art education and creative art. He gave two shows in this country in 1971 (one show took place in Meriden, CT), but this artist usually stays and works in Taiwan. In the eyes of this colleagues and art critics, Professor Cheng is considered one of the foremost artists in Taiwan today. Born in Fuchien Province across the Taiwan Strait, he went to Taiwan at the age of eighteen to attend a Normal School majoring in art. He then went on to the National Normal University, achieving an art degree in 1960. Mr. Cheng has been an active artist and a devoted and caring teacher in classrooms at his Alma Mater, and a humble and deferential gentleman with elegant taste. As an artist, he literally paints everything he sees: children , toys, animals in the zoo, vegetables on the market stands. As one person described his work: "Anything his brush touches turns out to be a piece of art rich in humor and subtle poetic feelings." Landscape painting is still one of his special gifts. Scenes are largely confined to the natural environs of Taiwan. Our piece is a good example. Painted in 1996, this rural scene, done with a blunt brush in bold dark ink, depicts the rugged path leading to a quiet dwelling place in lush woods over cliffs. It is a typical view on the beautiful island of Taiwan. This painting was purchased in September, 1986 with funds provided by David Zimmerman, class of 1975.

CHU-GRIFFIS ASIAN ART COLLECTION   05. Fu Erh-shih (1936 -) Hanging Scroll, Ink and Color on Rice Paper, 26.5 x 13 in., (67 x 33 cm.) Writing about Fu Erh-shih reminds me to mention a prevailing phenomenon of families of artist in China today. In our collection, we have three families represented. Fu Pao-shih's family is one. Fu Pao-shih (1904 - 1965), father of Fu Erh-shih, is recognized as one of China's best known artists specializing in painting both figures and landscapes. We have one of his landscape paintings. He has two sons and a daughter. They are all artists of considerable fame, and they all follow in their father's footstpes in their style. The first son, Fu Hsiao-shih is a figure painter. We have a painting by him. Fu Erh-shih is the second son. Fu Bao-shih's daughter is also a landscape artist. Blessed by their early observation of and training by their father, their interests in becoming artists propelled them to continue their art study at colleges. Their painting in mature years shows their father's influence. Take our piece, for example: if you are familiar with the father's painting, you easily recognize some similarities in painting small figures on top of the mountains, the contrast between dark and light dots, the way water falls and trees are painted. This by no means signifies a poor painting; on the contrary, it stands on its own as an excellent piece, but it is less creative and vigorous than his stunningly creative father. This painting was done in 1978 when Erh-shih was forty-two years old, shortly after the cultural revolution (1966-1976). During that time, the entire family suffered severe political repression as "Rightists". Hsiao-shih was even jailed for ten years while Erh-shih lost the energy to resist. By the early eighties, the Communist government rehabilitation policy sought to bring back the reputation of the wronged populace. The young Fus were invited to show their works in Peking, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and their paintings were auctioned on the world market. I bought this at Sotheby's in 1989. It was formerly owned by the well known collector, Mr. Robert Ellsworth of New York City. This painting was purchased with funds provided by Sharon and Hughes Griffis in 1989.

CHU-GRIFFIS ASIAN ART COLLECTION 06. Hsu Tao-ning (970 - 1053) Visiting Mr. Tai on a Snowy Night - atttributed to Hsu Tao-ning Hanging Scroll, Ink and Color on Rice Paper, 70 x 38 in., (178 x 96.5 cm.) This painting has a story to tell. In September 1996, I went to an auction at Christies in New York with my colleague, Charles Egan. We both fell in love with this painting. I made a bid and we bought it. It was listed as a sixteenth century painting, unsigned and without seals. I felt good about the price we paid. When I picked up the painting I saw on the ouside of the scroll was written: "Visiting Tai on a Snowy Night" by Hsu Tao-ning (Northern Sung 960 - 1127). I called Professor Egan. He reminded me of a story from the fourth century in Northern China. I found the original Chinese version of the story in a book in our library called A New Account of the Tales of the World. Here was the story Hsu Tao-ning remembered as he painted: "Wang Tzu-chiu lived in Shan-yin [in Chiangsu province]. One night there was a big snow. He woke up and ordered a drink. Everything was bright outside as he peered through the window. He got up feeling relaxed, picked up a poem by Tso Chiu-ming [warring period, ninth and eighth centuries B.C.] and chanted. Suddenly he thought of his friend, Tai An-tao. Immediately he boarded a small boat and was rowed to Tai's place. It took all night. At the door he stopped, turned around and returned home. When he was asked why, Wang replied that he went because he was in the mood to go. After his pleasure was fulfilled, he came back. Why was it necessary to see Tai?" I turned my attention to finding out more about this artist, Hsu Tao-ning, and about the painting itself. Students of early Sung dynasty landscape painting know him as one of the three best students following Li Cheng. Information about these three is easily available in books on Chinese art history. Hsu was good at portraiture as well as river scenes. Personally, he was unkept, loud, impulsive, and often called outrageous. In regard to this painting, a sixteenth century attribution seems fairly logical relative to some landscapes and figure painting by artists from the Ming Dynasty (1367 - 1644). With our limited resources we cannot afford to buy eleventh century paintings, nor are they easily available. Purchased with funds donated by the Faigles, the Ricklins, A. Wang, the Willises and Zimmermans. September 1996

CHU-GRIFFIS ASIAN ART COLLECTION 07. Lao Cheng (ca. 1680-1721) Hanging Scroll, Ink and Color on Rice Paper, 62 x 26 in., (157.5 x 66 cm.) The painting in front of you was done in 1698 by a minor artist who lived at a time when the orthodox school of the four Wangs dominated landscape painting. At the same time, there was a group of four Tsaoist monks; painters who were innovative and individualistic. This young artist, Lao Cheng, leaned toward the traditionalists. He claimed to be a recluse and a poet living in the mountains outside his birthplace in today's Su-chou in Southern China. The following translation of his inscription on the painting tells something of the artist and his own view of the painting: Mist and clouds below, I do not feel lonesome. I dip the brush in ink, casually copy master's work. this morning I am trying to imitate Huang Kung-wang (1269-1354) then I realize the misty mountain lacks his warmth and fails to capture the color blue. This painting is crammed with dry brushed small hills and trees in valleys. As he admitted, they lack the free-flowing movement of strong brush strokes. You may ask why I bought it. My reasons are simple: 1. This can be used for reference in the classroom; 2. It is availible and affordable. Purchased with donations from C. Egan, F. Field, G. Gardiner, M. Hassard, J. Hersey, G. Jagger, S. Payne, P. Perraud, F. Phelen, L. Stack, F. Varinata, G. Willauer. Sept. 1997 .

CHU-GRIFFIS ASIAN ART COLLECTION 08. Lu Yi-fei (1931-) Clear Day Over the Wu Gorge of the Yangtze River Hanging Scroll, Ink and Color on Rice Paper, 35 x 19 in., (89 x 48 cm.)   Lu Yi-fei, born in the province of Chechiang, is not to be confused with another artist of the same name who was born in 1905. At the age of twenty-nine, when Lu was a worker at a rubber company in Shanghai, he was chosen on the basis of artistic talent for advanced training in painting at the Shanghai Painting Academy. Lu became a student of Wu Hu-fan (1894-1937) and Lu Yen-shao (1909-1993). Both were landscape painters. Lu Yi-fei tends to be bolder and more innovative than his teachers. He is particularly skillful in the use of clouds, mist or water to create the void so important in Chinese painting. Looking at paintings by the three artists I feel that Lu thrived under the influence of Lu Yen-shao and this is noticeable in our example, Clear Day Over the Wu Gorge of the Yangtze River. This painting was purchased with funds provided by Sharon and Hughes Griffis in 1988.

CHU-GRIFFIS ASIAN ART COLLECTION 09. Ma Yuan (1190 - 1225) Hanging Scroll, Ink and Color on Rice Paper, 24 x 13 in., (86 x 33 cm.) This is a print of a Ma Yuan landscape. I choose it with two purposes in mind. One is to explain the switch from monumental style such as "Visiting Tai on a Snowy Night" to a reduced format in the Southern Song era (1127 - 1279). The new trend in painting landscapes was to depict scenic nature in a gentler, simpler, more lyrical and intimate mood. Secondly, this was an era when Zen philosophy and Neo-Confucianism prevailed. The former emphasized a spontaneous splash-ink method of painting, and the latter stressed rationalism. Ma Yuan, being the Court Academy painter much influenced by a few masters before him, kept his acquired techniques and was bold enough to use ink wash liberally creating more empty space to make the painting open and airy. Landscape Painting became a means of personal expression. His small album and fan paintings express even more clearly what was on his mind. (His paintings can be viewed at the Metropolitan Boston Museum and Smithsonian.) When the next dynasty ruled China under the Mongols (1279 - 1368), the change in personal styles became even more literal and scholarly. Ma Yuan was an important link between realistic paintings of an earlier era and literati painting after him. In short, I hope that by showing these few samples of Chinese landscape paintings we all see that painting styles do change with the times. Rules were emphasized in the T'ang time (618 - 907). Later in the Song period, rationalism revailed. In the Yuan dynasty, personal taste for poetry and lofty ideals claimed the day. Ma Yuan played his part in this procession. This print is donated by Dr. Lily Shang, Switzerland. August, 1994

CHU-GRIFFIS ASIAN ART COLLECTION 10. Yang Yan-wen (1939-) Goddess Unharmed Hanging Scroll, Ink and Color on Rice Paper, 22 x 19 in., (56 x 48 cm.)   In 1952 , Yang left his village in Hopei to attend a high school in Beijing. During holidays and weekends, he used to go to the suburbs to sketch. After high school, he was enrolled at Beijing Art Institute where he studied oil painting with Wu Kaun-chung, a well-known modern impressionist landscape artist in China. Somehow Mr. Yang felt that oil painting restricted him culturally. He decided then to switch back to Chinese brush work. Looking around he found some living masters who are trained in the West (most in Paris) and they too eventually blended Eastern and Western techniques. He was convinced that this was the road he would travel. And he has. I have seen many of his paintings since the early eighties. Some are album size, others are many feet long. Our small scroll (1984) entitled "Goddess Unharmed", depicted Wuxia, one of the Three Gorges of the Yangtzu River, provides a good example of his painting techniques. It is mostly monochrome. In many ways this painting can still be characterized as traditional. He used the age-old ink splashing method vigorously and spontaneously to provide freshness in movement and feeling. It is safe to say that changes have taken place in Chinese landscape painting, but traditional painting has not been lost. This new era is the New Literati era, and the trend has continued. Mr. Yang stands solid. This painting was purchased with funds provided by Sharon and Hughes Griffis in 1988.